Bittersweet
by Pam t3h Spam
Summary: KS. Revenge is about hitting where it hurts the most. To that end, S abducts K. She is left with mind and body shattered and no memory of encounter, save for a few hauntingly familiar dreams. And most curious of all...she can’t stop thinking about him.
1. Sweet Revenge

K/S. In order to complete his revenge for Inuyasha, Sesshômaru kidnaps Kagome and does something unforgivable to her. When she is at last returned to her companions, however, Kagome is surprised to find that, rather than feeling hatred towards Sesshômaru, she now can't stop thinking about him…

Disclaimer: No, Inuyasha doesn't belong to me, unfortunately. T.T

Notes: This is definitely Kagome/Sesshômaru, though it doesn't seem to start out that way! But the title should give you a clue…And the reason this chapter has been reposted is that I found a few parts of this fic that I didn't like and smoothed them out, a few words used to often for my satisfaction, etc.

Rating: PG-13 for some _suggested_ sexual situations...mwah?

Bittersweet 

By Sango-chan

Chapter One

Sesshômaru, Lord of the Western Plains, waited patiently in the quickly fading sunlight. Dust motes drifted downward silently, momentarily illuminated by the last golden rays of sunlight. How strange it was that those bands of golden light were even more richly hued, so sweet that one's tongue strove to sample the delicate flavors, now that their death was assured. But all the beauty of the dying day was lost upon the yôkai. He had eyes only for the figures which rested a few meters away, unaware of his presence. _Patience_, he counseled himself. _Patience._

Darkness struck suddenly upon Sesshômaru's half-lidded eyes, and a rarely seen smile lifted the corners of his mouth. Ah, revenge upon his halfling brother would be ever so sweet. His restless gaze roved around the camp of unsuspecting companions, and landed on the features of the girl, his brother's mate, and an actual chuckle escaped him, causing the ever-present Jaken to stare up wonderingly. Oh, yes, his revenge would be pleasurably sweet tasting, indeed…

-------

Kagome lay still in sleep, raven­ tresses tumbled over her face. Sesshômaru stood over her, savoring this moment, looking almost longingly upon the key to his long-awaited vengeance. This slip of a girl, this pretty little nothing—who would have ever imagined that she would serve his purposes so well? His golden eyes shot quickly in the direction of the slumbering Inuyasha, completely oblivious of the danger to his mate. But there was no time to waste in drawing out this moment, unless he wanted all his plans to be spoiled, and so Sesshômaru scooped the unconscious girl up in his arms, left the camp, and beckoned towards Jaken, all in one fluid motion.

A cold wind whistling past her ears finally caused Kagome to awaken. At first she thought she was dreaming, for this was nothing like the reality that Kagome had ever knew: the trees blurring past as she passed them at an impossibly fast pace, the liquid grace that somehow kept her movement so steady that half her senses were telling her that she wasn't traveling at all, and the strong arms that encased her. All of it seemed so illusory that Kagome was ready to close her eyes and simply enjoy this strange hallucination…until she glanced up at the face attached to the arms holding her up.

A soft gasp and the quickened thud of the girl's heartbeat against his chest alerted Sesshômaru of his prey's return to consciousness. He glanced down at her huge, frightened brown eyes and her mouth, opened for a scream. Quickly pressing a talon against the soft, vulnerable skin of her neck, his feral golden eyes flared menacingly and he hissed a cold command at her.

"Be still or I will cut your throat." The words were spoken softly and unhurriedly in Sesshômaru's rumbling baritone, but one look at his stern features told Kagome that they were not to be taken lightly. She instantaneously subsided, and Sesshômaru chanced a look backward. Of course they were far from her friends by now, but still...no sense in taking unnecessary chances.

Glancing down at the frightened girl in his arms, Sesshômaru removed his finger from her neck and traced it along her cheek, watching her flinch as a thin line of blood sketched its way across the ridiculously delicate human skin. His lips curled in a smile that conveyed no warmth at all.

An involuntary shiver shook Kagome. She squeezed her eyes shut and hoped beyond all hope that this was nothing but a nightmare, a simple fantasy that would end with the coming of dawn. However, when she opened her eyes, she was still in the dangerous presence of Sesshômaru. The tears that streaked down Kagome's cheeks and mingled with the blood from the demon's cut were swept away as quickly as they fell as she was sped away toward her kidnapper's home. West.

-------

"West?" Miroku's echoed, his brow furrowing dubiously.

Shooting him a glance of pure annoyed hatred, Inuyasha growled dangerously. "Yes, I said west! Where else would that bastard go to hide Kagome away!"

"Are you even sure that it was Sesshômaru?" Miroku ventured cautiously. "Kagome-sama may simply have wandered off for a morning walk."

"Of course it was him. The stink of that bastard is hanging all around that area." Inuyasha clenched his fists and had to restrain himself from punching the monk. "Are we going to stand all day and debate this or are we going to _find Kagome_?"

"Don't get so mad at Miroku," Shippo interjected. "He's only trying to help."

Her face worried, Sango sighed and tried to be logical. "Inuyasha's reasoning makes sense, since that's where Sesshômaru lives. If we don't stop bickering about this subject, then Kagome-chan..." The demon exterminator bit her lip and looked away, unable to finish the sentence.

Sango's companions all fell silent as they imagined the damage that could be done by Sesshômaru. Shippo whimpered, the long, poisonous claws a bad memory. Without another word and without even looking back to see if anyone followed him, Inuyasha set off westward at a dead run.

-------

Kagome was awoken with an unceremonious _thump_ as Sesshômaru dumped her to the ground. Rising unsteadily to her feet and stretching her stiffened limbs, the schoolgirl looked around at her new surroundings. The huge, richly decorated castle to her right contrasted sharply with the wild forest that stretched away from her left side for as far as the eye could see. The terrain was completely unfamiliar and Kagome had lost all since of direction by now. Squinting into the horizon, where a faint light was beginning to show, she recognized the rising sun and marked it as east.

Before the girl was given a chance to better familiarize herself with the new settings, Sesshômaru grabbed the back of Kagome's sailor fuku and brought her inside. _Dragged_ was more like it, and a sharp stab of annoyance went through the girl as she heard a faint rip in the cloth. Even as she was pulled along like a bag of waste, the indignity gave her the courage to yell up at Sesshômaru.

"What do you think you're doing by dragging me out here? If you think you can get Tetsusaiga by doing this, then you're dead wrong! Inuyasha could beat you up with one hand tied behind his back, and he...ah!"

Kagome was forced up on her tiptoes as Sesshômaru grabbed the front of her shirt and wrenched her up until that they were face to face. He didn't want to admit it, but the girl's words had struck a nerve. His eyes gleamed hotly, and hatred shone in the normally emotionless features.

"Wench," he hissed softly through clenched teeth, "do you imagine that you know what I have in store for you? That worthless half-breed will be groveling at my feet by the time I'm through..."

Claws scraped over her skin and Kagome flinched involuntarily, expecting to feel the sharp caress of those long talons. Instead, Sesshômaru loosened his hold and she crumpled to the floor. Lowering her head so that her long hair shielded her face, Kagome felt cold fingers of dread trace their way up their spine. _What can he possibly mean…?_

The cold, bitter scent of fear rose up from the girl, and Sesshômaru smiled. _I will certainly enjoy this, far more than I anticipated..._

"Come."

She hesitated, then rose and followed, too afraid now to do otherwise. The demon lord led her into a round, circular chamber...a bedroom, sparsely furnished. There was only a bamboo-mat bed there, but it was cushioned with soft silks and cloths, all beautifully woven. Confused, Kagome spun around. _What...what _is _this all about? First he kidnaps me, then he treats me like an honored guest?_

Sesshômaru, however, had no intention of explaining anything to her. He was already at the door of the room, speaking to some of his castle's servants. As Kagome watched, he gestured toward her and then uttered a sharp command. The two yôkai courtiers nodded and bowed low enough for their horned and knobbly heads to scrape the ground, and Sesshômaru turned to leave the room. With growing apprehension, the girl watched the servants approach her and took a nervous step back. The disfigured faces of the scaly, reptilian yôkai leered menacingly at her. With one foot already the door, Sesshômaru paused and strode back in. His servants hurriedly cleared a path for him.

Pausing in front of Kagome, Sesshômaru commanded the demons, "Leave. I will attend to it myself."

Puzzled even more, Kagome forgot her fear for a moment and muttered, "What the hell is he doing...?" Too late, she remembered the uncannily sharp hearing of dog demons, but to her surprise Sesshômaru ignored her words completely.

When the courtiers were gone, the cold features of the yôkai took on an emotion that Kagome couldn't quite place, but it made her uneasy. Something about that expression boded ill for her. Her suspicions were only confirmed as Sesshômaru threw her onto the bed and casually raised his right arm, poisonous claws, fully visible now, above her throat, ready to slice.

Kagome threw her arms up to cover her head as the deadly talons slashed downward, but they offered poor protection. _This is the end for me_, she thought helplessly, eyes tightly shut.

But no pain came and Kagome felt the air over her body shriek as claws missed her by a fraction of an inch. Cautiously reopening her eyes, she saw that the demon lord was standing in the exact same position as before, with that strange look on his face even stronger now.

A cold draft blew over the exposed skin of her stomach, causing goosebumps to rise. _Wait...what? _Rising up slightly to peer at her body, Kagome could discern that, indeed, there were no injuries. She could see that quite clearly, in fact, since all her clothes lay in tattered pieces on the silken sheets and every bit of her bare flesh was exposed. Blushing furiously, Kagome desperately tried to cover herself up with the blankets and save at least some of her modesty.

Embarrassed more than she could have thought possible, for lying nude before the calm gaze of this elegant, refined, demon was much, much worse than facing Inuyasha's stuttering apologies or Miroku's forthright perversion, it took a while for Kagome to finally wonder just _why_ Sesshômaru had so deliberately undressed her.

_Is he toying with me before he kills me, like a cat before it kills a mouse? _Kagome had watched Buyo as he hunted one day, and had been shocked at the change in her sleepy, fat cat. She had watched for a few horrified minutes as Buyo rolled the squeaking animal around unmercifully, slashing at random with his sharp little claws. Finally, sick to her stomach, she had shooed her pet away and watched the poor mouse run out.

And Sesshômaru was no fat, plodding cat. She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. Before there had been apprehensive fear, and uncertainty, but now...if her fate was to be tortured like that mouse, to die after being reduced to a trembling, helpless lump...

Flushed with righteous anger, Kagome looked up iinto Sesshômaru's face, ready to give him a piece of her mind and demand an explanation. Her words died away as her voice froze in her throat. The yôkai's eyes gleamed, and he breathed quickly in sharp, excited pants. Now, at last, the girl recognized that expression on his face, the heated excitement combined with bloodlust.

"No...no...NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Whimpering, cringing, Kagome desperately threw herself backwards, crawling away from him, an all-encompassing panic closing down over her thoughts.

_Inuyasha, please come!_

The terror tore away all reason, rendering useless any plans at all for escape that the girl had formed.

_Inuya... _

If she had felt fear before, it was nothing compared to this. The shrouds that she herself had thrown over her naked body twisted around her legs, trapping her, and she felt back, sobbing brokenly.

_INUYASHA...!_

Sesshômaru knelt next to Kagome and raised fingers to touch her cheek. She froze at his touch, mind and body numbing. Almost tenderly, the yôkai traced the fading red scratch that he himself had marked her with earlier. His fingertips traced a path down her face, left a burning sensation down her neck, and then paused at the collarbone. Gently lifting the silken sheets that barely covered the girl's body, he threw them off and surveyed her body.

"STOP IT!" Finally shaken from her stupor, Kagome slapped the yôkai lord across the face, hard. He drew back, eyes wide, surprise written on his features. Breathing heavily, Kagome backed up warily, curling up slightly to hide her body.

Licking his teeth, Sesshômaru tasted blood where fangs had met flesh. _So, still some fight left in the little wench,_ he mused, relishing the prospect.

Lunging forward, Sesshômaru grabbed the girl by the thighs in a grip so tight she knew there would be painful bruises for weeks. He threw her down again, and his strong fingers closed around her neck. She was trapped.

Eyes smoldering with a frantic, suppressed excitement, he paused and finally spoke.

"Now, I do wonder how Inuyasha will react to his ruined little mate, hm?"

Sesshômaru's fangs sank into her neck at the precise moment that his claws pierced Kagome's side. The pain flooded over her at once, unbearable, overwhelming, and she could feel her mind, unable to cope, begin to close down. She closed her eyes and sent up one last prayer.

_Oh please dear god please come, Inuyasha..._

End chapter one

AN: Heheh, so...what do you think? Nice little cliffhanger, isn't it? Oh, and if you think this is a little OOC for Sesshi, well, actually I do to! But then again, he WOULD be really frustrated by his inability to hurt Inuyasha, right? ...hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...and, he is a DOG demon, so wouldn't he have some kind of instinctive idea of how to steal a 'mate' away from his brother? Yeah...a dog... :mentally envisions a demon-doggie Sesshômaru humping somebody's leg: Um...THAT is really weird...LoL

Oi, and I need reviews to continue! Ten good reviews...or I no go on! Yes, I'm an evil, picky, cruel author, but hey! I need inspiration!


	2. Temptations

K/S. In order to complete his revenge for Inuyasha, Sesshômaru kidnaps Kagome and does something unforgivable to her. When she is at last returned to her companions, however, Kagome is surprised to find that, rather than feeling hatred towards Sesshômaru, she now can't stop thinking about him...

Disclaimer: We went over this already, didn't we?

Notes: Thanks to everyone! Wow...almost 40 reviews for the first chapter! xD Hmmm...and I know that this plot may seem unrealistic, but I'm just...um...inexperienced in these matters. I'm doing my best, k? So don't hit so hard on how improbable this may be.

Also, I'd love to be able to respond to each reviewer individually but...you do want this chapter out before the end of the year, right? So there might be a few times that I thank people personally, but sorry—I can't reach you all. That, however, doesn't mean that I don't appreciate this because all of your feedback is crucial to this story, plotless as it is. Keep up with the suggestions and inspiration!

_To Katzztar, lynnxlady, Akira Silveracious Ajere, Moonwind, E.L.E.G.A.N.T., etc:_ I just looked at my summary and I realized where you get that idea that he RAPES her, but that's not actually the case in this fic. Sorry if I worried you and made you go "WHA!" like that! Nope, that kinda thing definitely doesn't happen between Sesshi and Kagome...you'll see what really happens later in the story. Actually, the citrusy summary was just to get ppl hooked...and seems to have done a pretty good job!

_To weretosia-87_: Oh, the reason Inuyasha knew that Sesshômaru had been at their campsite to kidnap Kagome is cuz he could smell his scent. Sorry if that confused you!

_To lynnxlady and Rymsie:_ Yes, Sesshi is a bit OOC. And about the chuckling...heh...not one of the finer points of the story, and that part actually gave me nightmares for a while...scary...but then again, you'll notice that in places like Vol. 14 Sesshômaru smiles when he thinks about killing Inuyasha or revenge on Inuyasha, so...maybe it's not too bad, especially since now is his "perfect" scheme...

Rating: PG-13 for some _suggested_ sexual situations, and also coarse language in this chapter. No, this is not a hentai-filled lemon. Notice the word 'suggested'. Yeah...so don't get frustrated waiting for some action to happen.

Bittersweet 

By Sango-chan

Chapter Two

She ran doggedly, blinded by tears, fiery pain throbbing in every inch of her body, the last sluggish trickles of blood running down the length of her arms and legs. One thought pounded insistently through her whirling, aching head: to get away from that place, as far as possible. Not knowing what direction she headed in, and not caring, she ran. Her feet stumbled over stones and bled freely as they came in contact with thorny undergrowth. Branches whipped her face and tore the fabric of her light yukata, ripping the red cloth from her shoulders. At a gust of cold wind, the girl shivered, hobbling painfully to the pitiful shelter of a tree and curled up there, numb to the world around. Thankfully, a warm black shroud soon enveloped her body and she sank into blessed unconsciousness.

------

Inuyasha stood in front, pretending to be fascinated by the stunning display of the setting sun as he shielded his face from the others. Almost a whole day of searching now, and still there was no sign of Kagome. Almost a whole day of strenuous running, calling until his voice grew hoarse, _what if_s flashing through his traitorous mind.

Behind him, a somber silence had descended over his companions. At first, there had been a fierce determination to rescue their friend, a hot rage at Sesshômaru's actions. Now, as both mind and body wearied with the search, the iron resolve had become a dull resignation. Run, search, and call for Kagome: the actions were almost instinct, and slowly a dreadful thought worked its way into the edges of their exhausted minds.

_What if you it's too late? _the voice whispered silkily. _Surely she's dead already, so you can have a rest...her body can always wait until later... _The idea wrapped insinuatingly around them so that soon it was the only clear thought, and the temptation was a constant obstacle.

"There it is!" Inuyasha shouted suddenly in his new croaky voice, and then broke into a headlong sprint. A castle stood in the middle of the rugged wilderness, its richness and splendor contrasting sharply with the harsh terrain. It clearly could only belong to one person: Sesshômaru. Calling up what little strength they had left, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo followed behind as quickly as possible. By the time they had reached the castle grounds, panting, dozens of demon courtiers lay dead on the floor, victims of Tetsusaiga's power.

A stout wooden bolt blocked the doorway, but Inuyasha had no time for such niceties. With one slash both bolt and door lay in shreds, and a gaping hole beckoned the half-demon inwards. He ran into the castle and followed the twisting trail that Sesshômaru's distinct scent had left behind, kicking, pummeling, and slashing at any impediment that dared to stand in his way.

With rising anxiety as his search through the extensive castle grounds turned up nothing, Inuyasha ran all the faster, punishing his lungs and legs as he pushed his body to the limits. Dimly, some corner of his mind recognized the faint sound of fighting from behind: no doubt the marks of the passage made by his friends. But that was mostly instinct, for his whole conscious being strained towards one target: Sesshômaru, and perhaps by some miracle, Kagome.

Inuyasha had almost reached a point of hysteria when he finally kicked through the hundred-somethingth door and encountered the all-too-familiar face of his hated half-brother. Sesshômaru watched him with that annoying, bored-but-amused expression on his face. His eyes were smug as he waited for Inuyasha to speak.

"Where..._is_..._she_!" With vocal cords strained to the breaking point, Inuyasha half-coughed, half-screamed the demand.

Slowly, leisurely, Sesshômaru averted his gaze and spent a few agonizing seconds carefully selecting a tidbit of food from a tray at his side. Calmly inserting the morsel into his mouth, the taiyôkai took his time chewing and swallowing before answering his brother's question.

"Hmmmm...oh, that wench that you're so fond of?" Another scrap was delicately plucked from the engraved serving dish. Inuyasha watched with growing rage, fingers tightening around Tetsusaiga's hilt as he counted to ten and restrained himself from throwing his hands around his brother's neck and squeezing, squeezing hard and watching his goddamned perfect face turn blue and see the terror in his eyes and hear him blubber and beg for mercy...

Sesshômaru observed with a sense of contentment as his brother's knuckles whitened with pressure on Tetsusaiga's ragged hilt. _Ah, so this is what perfect revenge feels like_, he mused. _A pity I never thought of this before. But better not to keep him in suspense too long...my dear little brother never had a very long attention span._ The demon lord smirked and responded at last.

"Well..." Sesshômaru's shoulders moved slightly in a dismissive shrug. "For the first time your elder brother has no right answer."

"Damn you and your games!" Inuyasha grated out the few words between clenched teeth. "Just fucking tell me where Kagome is!"

One elegantly sculpted eyebrow rose in mock surprise. "Such language, brother."

That was it. All of the hanyô's thoughts of not rising to Sesshômaru's bait, the moral ideals of not actually killing his sibling, were lost in that instant as Tetsusaiga was whipped from its scabbard and placed at the demon's throat. Inuyasha applied a little pressure, almost breaking the skin as he held the sword to his brother's throat. The half-demon was breathing heavily and his eyes had taken on a dangerous, demonic glint.

Sesshômaru's eyes and voice immediately lost the fake joviality and became flat, threatening. Eyeing the sharp blade held to his throat with disdain, he met his sibling's eyes again and said, "And when you kill me, where will you be? Do you imagine that you could track her after I have personally seen to it that that girl is well hidden? Don't be a fool."

For an instant Inuyasha's eyes flickered, and then he slowly lowered the blade. What had he almost done, in momentarily letting his yôkai instincts take control? It mattered not the indignity he might suffer at Sesshômaru's mind games, if only Kagome were to be returned to him. _'Kagome...what did I almost let myself do to you?'_

Watching the horror plainly shown on Inuyasha's face, Sesshômaru decided that the time was ripe to let out his second trap. With a bored sigh, he waved his hand vaguely somewhere out in the deepest woods behind the gardens. "Enough. I grow tired of your ranting. The wench lies out there."

Inuyasha's mind reeled, froze. He had not missed the implication of the word 'lies'.

His emotions are so transparent, the demon lord noted as he observed the despair and grief that hit his brother's eyes at those words. How pathetic, he thought with disgust, and then added, "No, she is not dead, so you can wipe that highly amusing but idiotic expression off your face." 

Without another word Inuyasha was gone, destroying another wall in the process as he sprinted toward the forest.

A pair of golden eyes watched him go. Sesshômaru sat back and relaxed, pleased with how the encounter had gone—just the way he'd wanted it. Remembering Inuyasha's evident relief, he chuckled inwardly. _He has no idea how quickly that happiness will be shattered..._

-------

As cold gusts of wind raised goosebumps on even his tough skin, Inuyasha shivered but only ran faster. If Kagome was exposed to the weather any longer...there could be fatal consequences.

To his relief, the hanyô spotted a familiar head of thick ebony hair after about five minutes of constant running. Surprisingly, Kagome wore not her usual green and white sailor fuku, but was instead wrapped in a rich red silk yukata. Inuyasha dismissed those thoughts, however, as he noticed how still the girl lay, arms stiffly incircling her white legs as she lay beneath a large tree.

_"The wench lies out there."_

Sesshômaru had assured him that Kagome was not dead, but could he be trusted...? Inuyasha's immediate reaction was a vehement _no_. Never had he placed any faith in his elder brother, and there was a chilling ring of truth to that sentence. And worst of all, there was the undeniable truth before his eyes: the stark whiteness of Kagome's skin, clearly visible even from this distance, and the cold rigidity of her body...

End Chapter Two

AN: For all you impatient ones...I'm sorry to be so slow in updating, but this is the way I write stories, k? Slow but as high of caliber as I can manage. I also tend to have rather short chapters, but that's another one of my quirks that you'll have to live with. And one more favor to boost my already overly inflated ego...please appreciate the delicious, cool sexsahness with which Sesshômaru handles Inuyasha in this section...

Erm, ahem. Forgive my hyper fangirl ranting, please! Actually, I'm more of an Inu-chan fan than of Fluffy, but I couldn't resist myself here.


	3. Despair

K/S. In order to complete his revenge for Inuyasha, Sesshômaru kidnaps Kagome and does something unforgivable to her. When she is at last returned to her companions, however, Kagome is surprised to find that, rather than feeling hatred towards Sesshômaru, she now can't stop thinking about him...

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I don't own Inuyasha, etc, etc

Notes: This chappie has been reposted due to a misunderstanding: SESSHOMARU DOESN'T RAPE KAGOME! UNDERSTAND? Geesh...got all these reviewers killing me cuz they think I made him do that...no, no, read the AN on chappie 2!

I love you all! Throws little silk banners with "SESSHI/KAGOME AND INUYASHA/KIKYO 4EVER" printed on them into the crowd Thanks for the constructive criticism and ideas, this is something usually very lacking in my other fic reviews.

Rating: PG-13 again...keep changing it...

Bittersweet 

By Sango-chan

Chapter Three

"Kagome!"

_What was that? Is someone...calling to me? _She tried to open her eyes, but managed only a brief flutter before she gave up. _It hurts so much... _Her throat contracted as she tried to scream for the person shaking her to leave. _It's so warm and dark here...I just want to curl up and sleep..' _Drowsiness flooded over the girl in warm waves, and she started to lose consciousness once again. _Mmm...feels nice..'_

But the voice calling to her wouldn't let her go to sleep. The shaking became rougher, and she began to get irritated. _Who is this? Why won't they let me rest? _A pair of golden eyes floated hazily before her vision, and she blinked slowly. _Who? Is it...him! _The face swam more clearly into view, the anxious expression, the silvery hair in a mess. _No..' _She was aggravated now, wanted this annoying person to leave her in peace.

"Go...away..."

Inuyasha caught the mumbling, not making out any words, but it spurred him on. He shook Kagome even harder, seeing a flutter of her eyelids. "Damn...wake up!"

_Why doesn't he leave me alone! _Annoyance bubbled up.

"Come on, Kagome..." Inuyasha's voice cracked, on the verge of tears.

"SIT!"

His view changed from Kagome's pale face to the slightly damp soil as Inuyasha plummeted to the ground with a startled yelp. As soon as the spell's effect wore off, Inuyasha was up again in front of Kagome, growling in anger.

"What the hell was that! Is that all the thanks I get for chasing you across..." his voice trailed up as Kagome tried to lever herself up into a sitting position, wincing as she did so.

"Kagome, don't try to move yet!" Moving to assist her, Inuyasha laid the girl down gently. She tried to speak, and then touched her swollen, cracked lips and the dried blood running down her chin.

"What..." Kagome coughed, pain fluttering across her face with each heave of her chest. It was a while before she spoke again. "What happened to me?"

"You...you don't remember?" Surprise, worry, and fear combined, each clamoring to be heard in Inuyasha's thoughts.

"Nothing."

"Well..." He fidgeted, looking down.

How do I explain to her? I don't even know what happened! Why can't Kagome remember anything? What's wrong? What did Sesshômaru do to her? His scent stinks everywhere, but I can't make anything definitive out...but it looks like she was beaten...did he torture Kagome to get information out of her? That bastard...

Seeing that Inuyasha wasn't going to be of any help right now, Kagome sighed, and reached for her arm to pull her sleeve down farther where the cold wind was biting bare skin. Her fingers brushed fine, smooth material, and she stared down at the beautiful red cloth, threaded with golden-hued strands of silk. _Gold..._

Deciding that it was best to just tell Kagome as much of the truth as possible, Inuyasha cleared his throat nervously. "You see, Sesshômaru..."

"Then it was Sesshômaru." Kagome's voice was flat, dead, completely devoid of any expression at all.

Inuyasha paused, staring at her unreadable face. "What do you mean?" he asked, frightened by the cold tone. She didn't sound like the Kagome he knew, and that scared him more than anything else that had occurred in the last 24 hours.

"Then it was Sesshômaru that I remember...I thought it was you...the same eyes, almost, but...it...it..." Kagome stopped speaking. A frightened edge had crept into her words.

"What is it?" Inuyasha asked her, his voice gentle but urgent.

"It's like a dream! A nightmare! I thought maybe it was just my imagination..." How could she tell this to him, that sympathetic expression on his face?

"Kagome..." He gathered her up in his arms, cradling her to his chest like a young child. "It's ok. You don't have to tell me."

But she did. If she didn't tell somebody, the half-remembered fragment would prey on her mind, drive her insane with the wondering. "No...I have to say it...he, he, all I remember is that...it's horrible, oh god, it can't be true!" Kagome's words tumbled out in a babbling rush, thoughts tangling with each other hopelessly. All she wanted to do at that moment was let herself collapse against Inuyasha's warm chest, sleep until she woke up from this bad dream.

_Maybe it's not a dream._

She pushed herself away from Inuyasha and steadied her voice, taking a deep breath. No matter how long it took, it needed to get out. "What I remember is seeing Sesshômaru in front of me. I think I was crying...yes, because my face was cold where the wind blew..." Kagome touched a cheek as if still feeling that, then continued. "And I was scared...there was some sort of bed I was on..." the girl stopped again, looking at the hanyô a few feet away with something akin to pleading. "It's a dream, isn't it? I was sleeping?"

Inuyasha could only shake his head mutely. "Maybe...but I don't think so."

Touching a cut on her wrist, Kagome felt pain shoot up her arm at the action. If that had been a dream, where did this come from, then? No, the best thing to do was to explain it...all of it.

"Lying of top of something soft. It was so cold there, and Sesshômaru touched me, and bit me. I think..." This was the hardest part of all. "I think...I think I wasn't wearing anything. I was completely naked."

"Kagome..." Shocked, horrified, Inuyasha's voice came out as a tiny whisper.

"And...and then he leaned down and he touched me again! That's all I can remember...oh god...Inuyasha!" The last part came out as a sobbing scream as Kagome threw herself into the half-demon's protective embrace again. He rubbed her back comfortingly, the red silk cool and smooth under his fingers. She wept brokenly into his arms, sagging limply and allowing him to soothe her, try to calm her futilely.

"I'm kill him, Kagome, I'll _kill_ him..."

Those words brought fierce energy into Kagome, and she drew back again, this time ripping the yukata savagely, shredding the delicate weave as she sought to untie the sash. A sleeve ripped, breaking free completely, and Kagome threw all her strength into tugging the rest of the garment away. Tears streamed down the girl's cheeks as she bit and tore at the beautiful cloth.

"I'll tear it to pieces...I won't wear it! I won't!" A last hard wrench split the sash at the seams, and the yukata sagged open at the top to reveal Kagome's shoulders and chest, slashed with many wounds in various stages of healing. Bite marks ran up and down the length, crisscrossed by jagged red scratches and dotted with mottled bruises. Kagome stared at her mutilated skin in silence, letting the yukata slip down completely as she touched a still-bleeding wound.

Inuyasha couldn't avert his gaze from the large patch of caked, semi-dried blood that spread over Kagome's stomach and thighs, the product of a deep gash in her side and several smaller scratches on her upper leg.

All the pain flooded back as Kagome stared at the bloody mess that was her body. _I didn't realize it was this bad..._ she thought numbly as she collapsed.

Without a word, Inuyasha whipped off his outer shirt and covered Kagome snugly with it, scooping her up in his arms. He removed the remainder of the red yukata, the blood undetectable through the bright hue, and threw it without another glance into the bushes. Tearing off a strip of his white undershirt, he bound the largest cut on her side as best as he could and tied it securely.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome said softly, slumped in his arms, her tears dripping onto his skin. She closed her eyes and seemed to fall asleep.

Shifting her weight, Inuyasha could smell the strong scent of dried blood, even through the overshirt wrapped twice over the girl. _How could I have missed it before? _he raged at himself, angry for letting Kagome go without treatment for so long in her condition. Now he had to get her to Kaede, and fast. His tired muscles protested against yet another long run, but he grimly silenced them. It didn't matter the cost; Kagome had to get help.

"Inuyasha!" Footsteps falling heavily from exhaustion, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo cleared the tree line and hurried up to him. Sango's gaze immediately fell on Kagome, hanging limply in Inuyasha's arms, and she checked her friend for a pulse.

"Kagome!" Shippo cried, throwing himself onto the girl's chest, but Miroku held him back with his staff. "It would not be wise to bother Kagome-sama right now, Shippo."

Sango gave Inuyasha a sharp glance. He waited tensely for what she had to say.

"It's not good, Inuyasha. Her heart is beating slower than normal right now...it seems she has lost a lot of blood."

A nod from the hanyô.

Miroku opened his mouth to ask Inuyasha what had happened, but seemed to think better of it and said nothing. Now was not the time for explanations.

Noticing the dog demon's pale face and ragged breathing, Sango quickly added, "It would be faster to use Kirara to get Kagome-chan back to Kaede-sama's village. You, Miroku, and Shippo can follow me at a slower pace.

Inuyasha looked like he was about to argue. Right now, he didn't trust anyone with Kagome's welfare. _'But if she dies?' _an inner voice probed him, and he didn't protest. Gently depositing Kagome's still form onto the firecat's white-furred back, Inuyasha patted the yôkai's head. "Hurry." Kirara gave him a glance, seeming to understand.

Settling herself behind Kagome, Sango carefully propped her friend's head on her own lap. Noting Inuyasha's desperate, worried expression, the demon exterminator tried to reassure him by adding, "Kagome _won't_ die—I'll make sure of it."

The yôkai didn't look completely convinced, but he didn't say anything as Sango, Kagome, and Kirara flew off in the direction of the village.

Miroku started off at a brisk walk in the same direction and Shippo hopped onto his shoulder. Inuyasha stared at Sesshômaru's castle for an instant more, his gaze full of venom.

"I'll be back," he whispered, and then followed the others.

End Chapter Three


	4. Forgotten

K/S. In order to complete his revenge for Inuyasha, Sesshômaru kidnaps Kagome and does something unforgivable to her. When she is at last returned to her companions, however, Kagome is surprised to find that, rather than feeling hatred towards Sesshômaru, she now can't stop thinking about him...

Disclaimer: I tried to buy Inuyasha with three pounds of chocolate, a broken teapot, and a cageful of mutant hamsters, but...no takers.

Notes: I know what you're all thinking: OMG! The author actually updated! ...KILL HER! Eep...my excuses are as follows: 1) EVIL math classes, 2) Got a web design job, 3) Currently writing a novel, 4) DK ff centered around the ultimate bishi known as Viaresu/Bierres (xD), and 5) Braindead. Ok, you can kill me now. Still, I really DO like writing this fic, I'm just...unable to... And this chapter is a little dark...just musings, really...oO; Time jump!

Rating: PG-13...for suggested sexual content, but nothing explicit.

Bittersweet 

By shinsetsu no kokoro (change of penname)

Chapter Four

_Amidst the overgrown paths of what had once been an orderly garden, a few small trees still clung stubbornly to the rocky soil. Tiny, golden-orange fruits swayed invitingly in the cool spring breeze._

_She reached out for one, feeling its smooth firmness beneath her fingertips. A gentle touch broke the skin, and the faint odor that exuded forth was fresh and sweet. She brought the fruit to her mouth and took a bite._

_She held the piece in on her tongue for a time, then slowly dropped the bright, flame-hued ball. Looks could be deceiving._

_The flavor lingered on in her mouth. The fruit was not yet ripe, the taste bittersweet._

The bright sunlight filtering insistently through her closed eyelids forced her to open her eyes at last, despite how hard she fought to return to sleep. She sat up slowly, looking out the half-open straw-mat door. It was a perfect sunny day outside, bright and welcoming. A few weeks ago she might have jumped at the chance to walk around and simply enjoy life on a day such as this, but not now. Not when the innocent serenity peeping through the cracks in the small hut so opposed the hot mass of dark turmoil she felt inside.

Still, she forced herself to rise, stiffly and reluctantly, from the sleeping mat. She made her way to the door and brushed aside sharp strands of straw, pausing to give the bright day one last long look before stepping outside.

"Kagome?"

She froze, then forced herself to turn and look at him. The golden eyes, the silvery-white hair...Kagome broke the gaze and looked away. She stared determinedly at the floor as she spoke.

"I'm going out."

He leapt up then, eager, as always. "I'll go with you. You might need someone to—"

"No!" The word came out sharper than she had wanted, and she could tell without looking at him that his face was hurt. But she couldn't stop herself, now that she had let loose a little of her frustration. "Stop asking me that! I just want to be alone!" Kagome felt a strange, perverse sense of satisfaction as the angry words poured out.

"Kagome..." She could hear the hurt in his voice. _Good,_ Kagome thought savagely, wildly. _Teach him to leave me alone._

But he still persisted, stammering on. "You don't know—he might be out there—Sessho—"

Whatever warning Inuyasha might have had to offer was drowning out by the panicked roaring in her ears as she bolted out the door, tears streaming down her face. She didn't know where she ran, but blundered on blindly, tripping over roots and rocks invisible to her tear-blurred eyes until at last her breath gave out and she collapsed, panting, on a smooth boulder.

Kagome pressed her hot cheeks to the cool stone, fists clenched. _I shouldn't have done that_, she chided herself, feeling a hot, unpleasant sensation building up in her stomach. _I shouldn't have done that to him, he was only trying to help..._

_If he wanted to help, then why didn't he help you** then**! _Another voice, the one that had taken such vindictive pleasure in wounding Inuyasha, spoke up. _If he really cared as much as he says he did, then where was he when you needed him the most?_

_Yes, why? _More tears poured down her face, a hot mingling of frustration, rage, and despair. _Why, Inuyasha?_ She knew it was unfair of her to accuse him. He had tried, tried to help her...but trying wasn't good enough this time. Slowly, the tears trickled to a stop, leaving Kagome feeling heavy and exhausted. She stretched across the smooth rock surface, wondering vaguely if she should just go back to sleep.

She slept often now. She went to bed early and woke late, late enough to avoid conversation with her other companions. She knew they wondered about her strange behavior, but bore it. She was the "special one", the one the others had to take care of. Fragile and useless. She knew she held them up. The search for the shards and Naraku had been delayed for weeks...months...now.

And Kagome found that she didn't care.

She rolled over onto her back, closing her eyes. What did she care about, now? Nothing...nothing, perhaps, but sleep. Her sleep, her dreams, were an escape from the blinding stab of reality. The memories haunted her every waking moment, but, strangely enough, the dreams were a comfort. She had experienced no nightmares since the incident, but instead weird, disjointed fantasies set in places she knew she had never visited. But the one thing all the dreams shared was the sense of tranquil serenity. She was a peace only in them.

Kagome willed herself to fall asleep again, slip into the soothing lull of her dreams. But now that she had began thinking, she couldn't stop. Her mind was too alive, too active for that. The question that always followed her spoke up again. The question about the dreams.

She fought it, tried to keep it from surfacing. Thinking about it might shatter the thin shell of her only comfort. Yet it was persistant.

_Are those dream places really illusions? _She clenched her fists until the knuckles whitened. _Or are they just memories you can't recall?_

_Like that day._

She needed answers. The guessing was gnawing away at her mind, her heart. Some days she woke up and wondered if it was even worth the effort to continue trying, when she felt so dull and useless.

She needed answers.

And she knew one person who could provide them...

_God, my head hurts..._ Kagome placed a hand to her temple. _My heart aches. _Slowly, mercifully, she sank once more into oblivion.

_End Chapter Four_


	5. That Feeling

K/S.  In order to complete his revenge for Inuyasha, Sesshômaru kidnaps Kagome and does something unforgivable to her.  When she is at last returned to her companions, however, Kagome is surprised to find that, rather than feeling hatred towards Sesshômaru, she now can't stop thinking about him…

Disclaimer:  I swear I'll stop trying to blackmail Takahashi-sensei into giving me Inuyasha.  Really.  Truly.  :x  

Notes:  xD  Well.  I updated, due to one email sent by a reviewer...whom I don't know the name of...but that's ok..._;;;  You know who you are.  ^_~

Rating:  PG-13

Bittersweet 

By shinsetsu no kokoro 

Chapter Five

Sesshômaru was bored.

The feeling had crept up on him slowly, caught him unawares, and was now refusing to leave.  And he didn't like that at all.

His claws tapped restlessly at the tabletop, and his golden eyes narrowed slightly in frustration.  Nothing was improving his mood of boredom today...not terrorizing the humans, nor winning a new piece of land...nothing.

"Yansen!" he barked out suddenly, causing the old, wizened demon attendant at the doorway to jump up.  "Come here."

The ancient yôkai stumbled over to Sesshômaru and bowed deep, his head nearly touching the ground.  "Yes, m'lord?"

On a sudden impulse, Sesshômaru reached out for a delicate vase, one of those ridiculous items the female courtiers liked the place everywhere around his castle, and held it before Yansen.  "What do you think of this?"

A look of confusion crossed the other's face.  "M...m'lord?"

"I asked you what you thought of the vase," Sesshômaru said, with bite more impatience in his tone.  "It requires only a simple answer, fool."

The old demon looked panicked now, scared even.  Sesshômaru watched as a thin trickle of sweat rolled slowly down his head, and found it only too easy to imagine the thoughts running through his servant's mind.  "Sesshômaru-sama...what I think of it..." he licked his dry lips nervously, then stumbled on, "...it's...it's...fine...I suppose...or..."

"You suppose?" Arching a brow, the taiyoukai gazed coolly at Yansen.  Of course, this only caused the attendant to become more flustered.

"Sesshômaru-sama, I mean...I think it's...whatever you think!" Relieved at having come upon a solution at last, Yansen threw himself to the ground.  "Your opinion is my opinion, my lord!"

A bubble of irritation rose up in Sesshômaru, popped.  He snarled, lifting himself from his chair, and kicked at Yansen.  "Get up, you worthless fool."  The demon scrambled off quickly for one of his years, looking perfectly content to have ended the encounter.  Sesshômaru stared after him for a moment longer, and then strode slowly outside to his grounds.  "Do not follow me, Jaken," he shot at the shadowy figure beginning to emerge behind him.

Once outside, the demon lord shook himself.  He demanded perfect obedience from all his subjects, and they gave him no less.  So why had he become so annoyed by that?  The answer, Sesshômaru knew, was simple.

He was bored.

The countless bows, the looks of fear on their faces as he entered a room, the silences, the humbled non-opinions...he no longer found them amusing.  Sesshômaru was bored of the dull, gray entities, free of free thought or speech, that he met everyday.  He needed something different, some other _intelligent_ being.

And as that thought flitted through his mind, he saw just such a thing walking, hesitantly and with nervous glances and frequent stops, toward him.

*****

I shouldn't be here.

Kagome mentally berated herself with those words, and yet her feet kept going, carrying her down an all-too familiar path through the lush woods.  She glanced around nervously, starting at every small noise, but still walking ever closer to her destination.  She swallowed around the dry lump in her throat and asked herself once more,

Why am I here?!  Because I'm curious?  But it was more than that; curiosity alone wouldn't have brought her to this place and to an almost certain death.  A twig snapped nearby, and Kagome whirled, only to be confronted with the verdant foliage that surrounded her on all sides.  It's more than that...it's...everything. 

She'd had another fight with Inuyasha.  It had started the way they always did, with something stupid and pointless.  Kagome had wanted to go to the lake, Inuyasha had wanted to accompany her.  As simple as that...and as complicated.

They'd ended with shouting, screaming, hurled insults and cursing...but no tears.  Never tears, not anymore.  How strange that those same things that had caused her to burst out crying so few months ago now caused no reaction at all.  Kagome had stood, feeling strangely aloof and unattached to it all, as Inuyasha shouted at her.

"You stupid wench!!  Don't be an idiot, Kagome!  You can't go out there all alone!  Can't you see that Sesshômaru could—"

He'd stopped then, both of them shocked.  No one ever mentioned..._him_...anymore.  Not by name, anyway.  They would all know what was being spoken of, but no one ever said his name aloud.  It was the first time that Kagome had heard it in all those months since the incident.  And it still burnt her.

Inuyasha had whirled around, face reddened, and run back quickly to the others.

And Kagome...Kagome had headed toward Sesshômaru's castle.

_So here I am.  _Her feet crunched on with a steady pace on the thick underbrush.  _Because of that stupid, stupid fight with Inuyasha.  And because of the Feeling._

That was how she thought of it.  The Feeling, that strange, steady tug that always pointed her towards the west, towards the castle, towards these woods and that yôkai and the memory that invaded her every waking moment.  Kagome closed her eyes, willing herself to turn back right now while she still had a chance at life, but her feet did not respond to her command.

She sighed, trying to enjoy the scenery around her, and finding that impossible.  The castle grew larger and larger before her eyes, and her gaze was fixed unmovingly upon it—so intent was she, in fact, that she didn't notice the person before her until she bumped right into the tall form.

Kagome stood stone still, heart in her throat as she stared with a mixture of fear and surprise into the calm, aloof eyes and the finely chiseled features of the familiar face before her.

"Hello," Sesshômaru said.


	6. Haunted

K/S. In order to complete his revenge for Inuyasha, Sesshômaru kidnaps Kagome and does something unforgivable to her. When she is at last returned to her companions, however, Kagome is surprised to find that, rather than feeling hatred towards Sesshômaru, she now can't stop thinking about him...

Disclaimer: Does owning an Inu plushii count...? TOT;

Notes: I have updated. boom, crash, reviewers scream/pick up weapons, world ends, etc etc etc.

Rating: PG-13

Bittersweet 

By Pam t3h Spam (...formerly shinsetsu no kokoro/Rurouni Chaos, etc etc etc...eheh)

Chapter Six

_Kagome stood stone still, heart in her throat as she stared with a mixture of fear and surprise into the calm, aloof eyes and the finely chiseled features of the familiar face before her._

_"Hello," Sesshômaru said._

-------

A million questions, accusations, demands, all whirling about in her head for untold days, until she felt ready to explode with the need to release them—

—and now they had all disappeared, leaving her tongue-tied and stupid.

Kagome swallowed, opened her mouth to emit a strangled sort of croak, and shut it again.

"Well?" A snide half-smile crossed Sesshômaru's face; on someone less dignified than he, Kagome might have guessed that it masked a giggle. She flushed with embarrassment and a sudden hot surge of anger. The anger was a welcome wake-up call. Her head cleared of the thick fog that threatened to overwhelm her completely and leave her staring dumbly at the yôkai, and her tongue loosened once more. Kagome shot her first question out, voice thick with loathing.

Or at least that was what her brain _tried_ do. Her mouth apparently had a mind of its own.

"Y-you knew I was—I mean, you could tell that I was—did you know?...I...I'm..." One agonizing, painfully inarticulate minute later, Kagome let her incomplete thoughts trail off into nothingness. She could feel heat pooling in her cheeks, knowing that she was twice as red now—and twice as far from getting to any sort of point.

He looked at her oddly, his expression a far cry from his normal stony mask, but still unreadable. "Come."

Sesshômaru swept off without a look back, and Kagome stumbled blindly after him. It seemed that her feet moved her forward of their own volition—certainly _she_ wasn't controlling them, for her mind was lost somewhere in the muddle of half-thoughts and protests triggered by his presence.

It was not until they had reached his castle that she was able to reclaim the use of her body again.

"I hate you."

_Ack. Ick. Open mouth, insert foot...goodbye world, I'm dead, _the sensible part of her brain immediately wailed woefully. But the louder, more assertive voice that had doomed her with those three ill-advised words butted in rudely.

So WHAT? I'm sick of this, and it IS his fault. Get this ridiculous encounter over with!

Sesshômaru halted so suddenly that Kagome almost crashed into him. He whirled smoothly to face her.

_Really, that view of his back wasn't so bad... _Kagome pleaded feebly to whatever god or gods might deign to listen. _No, I could have kept staring at it for hours... _Of course, if some all-powerful being had allowed her to say such a stupid thing in the first place, that was proof enough that she was favored with no god's grace.

"You hate me? Odd, then, that you would follow someone you hate this far into his home."

Where was that assertive voice when Kagome needed it! All she could do was gape stupidly, at a complete loss for the second time in the last few minutes.

"It is rude to have guests in one's home so miserable...perhaps I could put you out of your misery?"

Kagome stared at his now very obvious, very sharp claws, and managed a squeak that was meant to be a no.

Apparently satisfied, Sesshômaru continued his march, and she once again followed.

Determined that her mouth should not be given another chance to put her life at stake, Kagome concentrated fiercely on her surroundings. Honey-colored wood gleamed with an almost holy cleanliness, and lesser yôkai, household servants, scurried about at their various tasks. They were well-trained; not a one even spared her a passing glance.

Kagome raised her eyes to the ceiling, and a startled gasp escaped her lips. Ornate carvings were raised from the wood, a huge, sprawling mural that encompassed the entire ceiling. The images were beautiful but savage: all depicted yôkai battling humans. Blood poured from stark wounds, lips and beaks alike lifted in eternally agonized cries...but, as her eyes slowly moved over the mural, she saw that, despite the damage to both sides, there was a clear victor. The very last carving portrayed a grinning dog-demon, the head of what appeared to be a human shogun clenched in its jaws. Its eyes burned with rage and fierce victory, reaching out from the lifeless wood with a whispered promise of death...

"My own dear father." Kagome blinked, bringing herself back to the present. Sesshômaru stood in front of her, also glancing up at the mural. "It portrays him at the very height of his demon power...before he went soft."

"Went _soft_?" Kagome glanced nervously at the all-too-lifelike carving and tried to imagine the enormous dog demon going "soft". Her imagination failed her miserably.

Sesshômaru's lip curled. "Before he wedded that worthless human woman," he said shortly. His face was dark and ominous, and Kagome bit back the questions she wanted to ask as they continued to walk down the hall.

With nothing but the soft scuffing of her own shoes against the smooth floors to distract her (Sesshômaru made no sound), she had plenty of time to ponder. _If his father married Inuyasha's mother...then what happened to _Sesshômaru's_ mother?_

She felt a momentary stab of sadness for the yôkai lord—she knew well what it felt like to lose a parent. The emotion was fleeting though, and quickly replaced by the angry confusion that had been with her for the past few months. _I hate him_, she reminded herself again. _I hate him, hate him, hate him. And I didn't come here for pleasant conversation, or tragic little sob stories—I came here to settle this._

CRASH.

It was surprising how loud of a sound one delicate china fruit bowl could make when smashed against a wooden floor. The sound echoed and boomed around the cavernous hallway, then died away to fainter tinkles as the shattered pieces jumped and then slowly settled. The bowl's golden-orange contents came to a rest with heavier, muffled thumps that died away like drumbeats in the distance.

"_You_." Gone were the stutters, the shaking, the confusion. It was as if some incredibly efficient janitor had visited her mind to clear all of that away, leaving her with one purpose. "You slimy _bastard._ You know why I came here, so stop whatever game you're playing at. Kill me now if you want to, but I'm sick of wondering. I came here for answers." Kagome's pale face was resolute. "I want to _know_." Tears threatened to break free, but she brushed them away impatiently. There was no time for such luxuries. "Do you know what it feels like to have this huge, gaping hole in your memory? To worry about something, anything, that might have happened while your brain was asleep? Do you know what it's like to feels so scared, so frightened...you've probably never in your life known what it means to be terrified, but I don't fucking care because you're going to explain it or kill me, so help me God. And I'm not leaving until you do."

"Then you would die right now?" Sesshômaru still hadn't turned around.

"I would." A ghost of a smile, more akin to a grimace, flitted about the girl's lips. Slowly, with hands that were sure and steady despite her trembling legs, Kagome notched an arrow to the bow she always carried. "I would, but if I die, so do you."

_I'm crazy, absolutely crazy, _that rational part of her mind said wonderingly. But her grip on the bow stayed strong.

Sesshômaru's only reply was to bend down in one smooth, casual motion towards the shattered bowl.

"I said don't move!" An arrow sped by, leaving in its wake a few strands of long, silver-white hair that drifted leisurely downwards. Kagome swiftly grabbed another, the blood roaring fiercely in her veins. Anger flowed up in a rich tidal wave that lent her a sudden surge of strength. Her vision misted, blurred, until only that lone figure stood out clearly. She knew that she could shoot him, that even with her eyes closed she could—_would_—make that shot. Her eyes, her arrow, and his heart—it was as if all three were one, instantly connected by the slightest movement of one finger... Was this what yôkai felt? This all-consuming, single-minded killing rage? Never again would Kagome wonder what it was that possessed rampaging yôkai to destroy entire villages and cities again, because now she knew the true extent of bloodlust.

But she wasn't yôkai, and even as her arrow tip pointed to Sesshômaru's beating heart, at his elegant form now frozen in an inelegant crouch, her anger slowly ebbed. What could be gained by killing him now? Were he to die, his answers would die with him, and also Kagome's only hope to reclaim whatever was left of her sanity. She desperately needed the information he held, because with it

_I could really truly live again..._

Bit by bit, the bowstring slackened. "Get up," Kagome said more calmly. "Get up, face me, and start talking."

Instead, he reached out and grabbed one of the fruits fallen amid the broken pottery. In one fluid gesture, it was suddenly sent tumbling through the air in Kagome's direction.

The golden-orange globe sailed up in a high, graceful arc; before it had reached even half the distance, Kagome's arrow found it. The fruit plummeted to the floor, its thin skin popping open upon impact. As it rolled to a halt at Kagome's feet, an impossibly sweet scent rose from the tiny fruit, warm and inviting, invoking images of sunlight and summer and

_an orderly garden, a few small trees still clung stubbornly to the rocky soil. Tiny, golden-orange fruits swayed invitingly_

"No..." The bow clattered to the ground, forgotten.

"...no..." She bent, her fingertips grazing the smooth skin, exactly as she remembered.

"Impossible..." But how could you remember such vivid, silky, softness if it was only a dream?

"It can't be...?" Trembling fingers lifted the fruit, exposed flesh glimmering temptingly. Slowly, dreamily, she brought it to her mouth and bit down.

The taste seeped gradually onto Kagome's taste buds. Its alluring scent belied the true mouth-puckering flavor, a flavor all too familiar to the girl. She wanted to laugh, to cry; this was utter insanity, a dream, but oh-so-real and lifelike...

Two luminous golden eyes swam into her vision. "How does it taste, Kagome?" Clawed talons gripped her wrist and pried the fruit from unresisting fingers, unexpectedly gentle. "Tell me how it tastes."

"Bitter," she murmured incoherently, and again the gagging taste rolled over her tongue. No, not just bitter...underneath the sharp juice lay the promise of a ripe sweetness that would soon show itself.

"Bitter?" he whispered.

Kagome raised her face to him, seeing but not really seeing, caught up only in those huge, floating orbs of eyes, the taste on her tongue, the wretched thumping of her heart. "...no...bittersweet."

End Chapter Six

A/N: DundunDUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN:has no idea where this is going: Ah...this is fun...I seem to have discovered some semblance of a plot while writing this chapter! Maybe it makes up for the humongo long gap between the last chapter and this one...?

:pelted by rocks: oO; Guess not...

ROFL. Yeah, sorry about that gap. I had a stressful AP Bio class this year...but now the AP test AND the SAT II are officially over, so I think I'll be updating much faster this summer. I know this newest chapter is really crappy (my writing nonskills are all rusty...), but still, quantity over quality, ne?All reviewers left can rejoice!

...Anyone? Anyone?


	7. Webs

KS. Revenge is all about hitting where it hurts the most. With that thought in mind, Sesshô abducts Kagome and does the unforgivable to her. She returns with mind and body shattered and almost no memory of the encounter, yet strangely enough...she now can't stop thinking about him.

Disclaimer: Nope. I no own Inuyasha.

Notes: LENGTHENED CHAPTER. The last part was originally going in the eighth chapter, but it felt disjointed so I put it together...mwah. I recommend you read this chapter (especially the middle sections) while listening to Ayumi Hamasaki's "Still Alone". It adds something. :9

Rating: PG-13

Bittersweet 

By Pam t3h Spam

Chapter Seven

She was here.

Sesshômaru's unwavering gaze lay intently on the still form before him. The claustrophobic tower room was empty but for the girl, sprawled on a woven mat, and he himself, seated across from her. With no one around to see, the taiyôkai's normally cold face had softened ever-so-slightly. His expression could never be called gentle, exactly, but a pensive air about him molded the icy features into a somewhat more approachable shape.

She was here.

Her arms stirred, and he tensed, suddenly alert. But all she did was turn over in her sleep. Her lips puckered, and she murmured indiscernible words. A brief smile lit her still-sleeping features, and a small sigh of contentment rose like a soft cloud to fill the expectant hush of the quiet room.

He didn't have to guess at what dreams ran through the girl's mind. He knew every word, every action, every fleeting thought that passed through her subconscious as she slept. Her dreams were not just dreams—they were works of art. They had been painstakingly crafted, woven into a seamless silvery net that caught her mind easily in its grasp. And when she awoke, they stayed with her, gossamer threads that strangled her judgment, ensnared her emotions, and warped her actions. Like the web of some deadly spider, insidiously beautiful, they ate away at her psyche and left behind an alluring trail of suggestions buried deep, so deep. Half-formed ideas stirred a little stronger and burrowed a little deeper into her mind with the passing of each dream-filled night...slowly but steadily, bit by bit, day by day, until her own thoughts were not just caught in his net: they were a part of it.

And when that happened, she would be his completely, mind and body. Long months he had waited for his plan to come into fruition, and it was close. It was so close.

She was here.

A quick shiver of delicious anticipation stole over his body and caught him unawares. Deftly, he tossed a round orange fruit into his mouth and bit deep into the heart, into the pungent sweetness of its hidden flesh. The unripe fruit was flung back into the bowl with a rumbling snarl of frustration that was cut off suddenly as the girl stirred again, eyelids fluttering. Quelling his impatience, he watched her fall back into deep slumber. As the afternoon wore on, his own eyes began to close. He could wait; it was very close indeed.

She was here at last.

-------

_Gray sky. Black clouds. The smell of rain in the air. A rumble and crackle of thunder echoing far off. I need to get inside. If I don't get inside—I know something will happen._

_(I know it's a dream; it's just a dream.)_

_I know it without having to think about it: something indescribably terrible is coming with the thunderstorm. Fear makes me clumsy. I stumble over a branch because suddenly I'm in a forest filled with_

_trees. Here a tree, there a tree. All across the horizon, as far as I can see: tree. Tree. Treetreetreetreetree! So many trees and nowhere in them to hide. I need to find somewhere fast, because if I don't, something will happen._

_(Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream...)_

_A trickle of wetness down my cheek. Am I crying? No, it's just a raindrop. I need to hurry. I run faster and faster, and it's like magic: no branches whip across my face, no long roots reach up to trip me. I don't tire, I don't slow, and the forest blurs around me as I go faster and faster and faster_

_but it leads me nowhere. Where does this forest end?_

_More rain. It's coming down faster now. Slow, heavy plip-plops on the leaves turn into a rapid pattering of raindrops that sound eerily like pursuing footsteps. I hear thunder rumbling closer now. Lightning won't be far behind._

_Oh great. A forest, some lightning, and me in a sailor fuku. Water runs down my face in torrents, and it's just like I'm crying. I'm sobbing and I can't stop. The raindrop-footsteps scurry faster, faster, faster, and my feet pick up the tempo. Just me and my feet and the green blur of trees, running a race against the rain and the something that comes with it._

_(A dream, a dream, a dream, a dream.)_

_Thunder booms loud right over me. I drop to the ground and cover my head. Stupid: that won't stop lightning from hitting me. But it feels safer that way, in the dark cradle of my arms, breathing the earthy-wet smell of rain._

_I know: it's no use running anymore. The rain is coming down in silvery sheets that crash into fountains of warm mist as they reach the ground. I lay, and breathe, and peer into the darkness._

_White light fills my vision. I can see it _through_ my arms; they are no more substantial than the rainy mists. Is this the something I was running from? It's so beautiful. I'm no longer afraid, though I'm suddenly very tired. My muscles ache with weariness and I couldn't get up even if I wanted to. Which I don't particularly for some reason. The something—coming closer now—is beautiful but I feel that one look at that beauty will blind me or kill me._

_It's bending down. Oh no, I really don't want to look at it...it touches my arm and the rain running down is suddenly hot, hot, burning hot. It's not rain but molten lava pouring over me in wide red rivers. I open my mouth to say something—to ask it to stop, maybe—and the hot liquid runs over my tongue with a familiar coppery sting._

_(adreamdreamdreamdreamdreamdream**dream**...)_

_And it's not rain, not even lava. It's blood._

_My blood._

-------

_She has stopped running. She lays there like a dead thing, barely moving, barely breathing. Rain plasters her clothes and her hair to her slender frame, and the resemblance to a corpse increases tenfold._

_Is she dead? Panic rises in me; I push it down. She can't die now, that wench, and ruin it all._

_I step forward for a closer inspection. Once I leave the protective canopy of trees, raindrops plummet down toward me. They evaporate inches from my skin, forming a fine white veil of misty gases that hover around me. Seen from inside my translucent envelope, the forest has become a shimmering, ghostly otherworld._

_She still lives. Her body moves slightly, and a cloud of mist rises with every expulsion of breath. To my wonderment, her arms have taken on a shining, iridescent quality. They glow so brightly I can see straight through them to her staring brown eyes. Not asleep then, either. She appears to be watching me._

_As if hearing my thoughts, her eyes suddenly snap shut. _

_No matter. Her arms intrigue me much more. The glow, the gentle pulse of some force unknown to me...I draw Tenseiga and touch its tip against her skin. The blade rings out, a high, sweet note that lasts for only a second. When it dies away, the wench is screaming something about blood, blood, too much blood, she's covered with blood and bleeding to death._

_I see no blood. Only the steady rain drumming out its insistent beat._

_Her screaming gradually fades into nothing. She heaves dry sobs, then soft, pathetic whimperings like a young pup. Silence, then. All is silent but for the few broken, disjointed words that rasp from the girl's throat: she is covered with blood, blood, blood._

_Curious, I lift her hand to my mouth and run a fang across it, breaking the skin. A thin red line appears on the pale flesh, and a single drop of ruby-red blood oozes out. I taste it, and instead of the coppery warmth I expect, a full-bodied, fruity flavor fills my mouth._

_Curious indeed. I drop her hand and will myself awake._

-------

Sesshômaru woke with a start in a room full of the dusky hues of twilight. For a moment, he simply sat and breathed, slowly bringing his senses back to this realm. Tenseiga tingled at his side, and he laid a hand on it.

A slight frown creased his brow. Why had the course of the dream changed? He hadn't made an error; it was impossible. That intricate weave of that particular dream had been as perfect as all the others, but was undeniably true that something had gone wrong. But what? What had changed it? If not him, then who?

Darkness had fallen as he pondered the question, but the lack of light didn't bother him unduly. Even in the gloom, his eyes fell clearly on the girl across the room, still sleeping peacefully. He remembered the glowing light emitted by her bare arms, the cries of blood and more blood, the inexplicable ringing of Tenseiga's blade...and the question answered itself.

If not him, then _her_.

"Girl..." With the faintest whisper of cloth, he stood and moved to her bedside. Her face was smooth and innocent as she slept. It was a face that could hold no secrets, no mysteries.

And yet...was it just his imagination or did the dullest gleam of white light emanate from her arms?

He blinked, and it was gone—if it had even been there at all.

His plans were moving ahead perfectly. This was no time to second-guess them. His growing sense of disquiet as he stood there and Tenseiga's soft, insistent humming were hardly reason enough to believe that something had gone horribly wrong, that he had overlooked an infinitely crucial fact. But it was hard for him to hold onto that idea as, without warning, the girl's brown eyes snapped open. The suddenness of it unbalanced him, and he struggled to maintain his composure.

She spoke to him in a whisper. The sound was hardly human, a ghost of a voice worn ragged with pain and despair.

"Please...get it off me...the blood...!"

He was frozen. This was impossible, _impossible_...

And then it began again: the sound from the dream-web they had shared. The dry, tearing sobs that rose with a great wrench from her throat, escaped from her lips, and rasped out to his ears. They reverberated through the tiny room, echoing, bouncing, repeating, unceasing and unbearably painful to his canine hearing. They drummed his emotions to a fever pitch, dull and insistent, until he was willing to do anything to make them stop.

He caught her chin in a viselike grip and jerked, hard, lifting her whole body into the air. She was so light, she felt like a bird in his hands, all hollow air and no substance. But still she continued to sob weakly, and that fragile, bird-like body shook so hard that the trembling ran up his own arms. Now it was his body quivering uncontrollably, his body shaken by sobs that seemed to come from the very depths of the soul.

And now the sound didn't simply enter his ears—it seemed to pierce his very heart. A sudden light-headedness stole over him, leaving him gasping for breath and deprived of any strength. His failing senses never registered the fact that he had sunk to his knees, nor that his strained breathing now matched the rhythm of those rending sobs. He closed his eyes to a room that was suddenly as insubstantial as spring mist, swirling and changing and birthing shadowy shapes before his vision.

As he sank heavily into the encroaching darkness that billowed up softly and sweetly around him, he was aware of only one thing. Even as the shadows stretched longer and the dark became more absolute, the form of the girl lying by him remained unwaveringly solid. There was a slight jarring bump, and he felt himself touch down gently in this realm, wherever it might be. He could do nothing but look at her, her chest still heaving with the effort of her sobs, her face contorted into a state beyond describing. The sound was still rattling his mind, but for the moment he was distracted by something else.

She had started to glow. It was as if some divine artist had dipped his brush in pure sunlight and outlined her sleeping form. Light, clean and white, radiated from her face, her arms, her legs. It pierced through every inch of flesh, and her transparent form etched itself indelibly upon his closed lids.

He was blinded by her light, deafened by her sobs. He felt his mind begin to rip away, and struggled weakly to hold on to it. As if from far away, he felt the smooth curve of skin under his fingers: his grip on her jaw had never weakened.

Spring mists, swirling in deadly pearl-gray wisps around him. Hollow sobs, shaking him at every turn to destroy him from the inside out. He knew that, no matter what, he had to stop that sound. The quivering face under his fingers was the only thing that he had held onto, and the only thing he could think of.

The sounds throbbing in his ears, he jerked her face up again and kissed her.

His lips covered hers, and he felt one last painful cry die in her throat. What came out instead was a small sigh, a single breath of joyous relief that moved into him, a soft gift from her lips. It seemed to fill him, restore him, and as he released her to fall away, the world slipped back into reality.

End Chapter Seven

A/N: I tried not to use names for this chapter. This one was supposed to set a sort of ethereal, dreamy mood for...well, you'll see. Are you satisfied with the semi-explanation at the beginning:3 That's all I'll you for a good long time...haha. And how do you like the amended end...?


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